A VILLAGE school near York became the first in the city to ban cars for a day to help curb the excesses of the “school run”.
About 100 children, parents and staff left their cars at home and cycled or walked to Skelton Primary School, on the outskirts of the city, for the area’s first ever school traffic-free day yesterday.
The car ban, organised by transport charity Sustrans, was held to reduce the amount of traffic outside the school gates and to show how easy it is to cycle, walk and scooter to school.
Pupils and parents who have to drive were encouraged to “park and stride”, by parking away from the school and walking the remainder of the distance to the gates. Sustrans has worked with the school since the start of the year to encourage children to walk and cycle. Naomi Wells Smith, Sustrans Bike It officer, works with teachers, pupils and parents to organise events and classroom sessions to give children the knowledge and skills to cycle safely.
She said: “The children, parents and staff of Skelton Primary have totally embraced the challenge to become the first school in York to ban cars, encouraging everyone to travel to school under their own steam. The average school run is about 1.6 miles for primary school pupils, so we just want to show how easy it is to walk or cycle the short distance.”
There are about 80 pupils at the school and Becky Gibson, its Bike It Champion and reception teacher, said: “Once again, our Bike It Crew at Skelton Primary School have organised and run a successful, fun event for all of our pupils. It was great to have everyone involved and we’d like to say a massive thank-you to the children and their families for their efforts, and to Naomi for including us in an event with such an important message.”
Sustrans works with 12 schools in York, in partnership with the Cycling City, City of York Council.
Follow school’s car-free lead
IT’S two years since York first tried a car-free day to switch to cheaper and alternative ways of getting around than by car, as well as to highlight healthier modes of transport like cycling and walking.
The experiment was repeated in 2010, but it is still only a once-a-year event. So yesterday, at Skelton Primary School, parents and staff decided to have a car-free day of their own.
It was the first time a village school near York had taken the plunge to ban cars in a bid to curb the excesses of the school run, and we applaud their initiative.
Private cars may be essential to most, but a lot of our motoring is by habit and days like the one at Skelton can only make us look harder at our journeys.
We need to decide which are absolutely necessary and which could be undertaken a different way.
The school’s car-free day has brought the topic of leaving the car at home back to the fore, and we say well done to all involved.
If more of us copied them, York would be a cleaner, greener and healthier city.
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